Work-Life Balance: How to achieve a balance between personal and professional life?

14 de March, 2022

Finding a balance between personal and professional life can be challenging. Often, our desire to succeed professionally means that work interferes too much with our personal lives. And technology has made this separation between work and personal life even more difficult. We can now check our work email on our cell phone at any time, take calls or even take our computer with us on vacation. However, creating harmony between work and personal life is fundamental to our physical, psychological and mental well-being. Are you relating to what you’re reading? Then you’re probably looking for that balance too. Come and discover with us what work-life balance is and some tips for promoting it in your life.

What is work-life balance?

When we talk about work-life balance, we often think that it consists of clearly separating the time we spend at work from the time we spend in our personal lives. According to this logic, all we have to do is make sure that we work 8 hours a day and that, for the rest of the time, we turn off the switch and don’t think about work anymore. However, the problem is not so much the amount of time we devote to work vs. our personal lives. The difficulty lies in feeling comfortable, satisfied and fulfilled in this constant coexistence between work and personal life.

Work-life balance isn’t just about reducing work-related stress. Rather, it’s about a way of working and living that contributes to our well-being, our physical and mental health. That’s why the tips we have for you to find that balance are not just about work, but also about what you do outside of work.

Tips for achieving work-life balance

Finding this harmony can be easier for some people than others. Nor is there a magic formula that works for everyone. However, these are some tips that may help you:

• Try to understand how you work best: nobody works the same way and it’s important that you know exactly how you work best and how you feel most productive. Whether you need to be alone and without distractions, whether you like listening to music while you work or whether you’re more focused after going to the gym or for a run.
• Set specific times for certain tasks: following on from the previous point, if you know that you tend to be more focused in the morning, set aside tasks that require more concentration for that time, for example. You can also set specific times of the day to answer emails or do recurring tasks.
• Set timetables: this can be particularly difficult if you’re working from home, where the professional and personal sides are even more intertwined. Even so, try to have set times for taking breaks, for lunch and, above all, for finishing your work.
• Relax and have fun with your colleagues: go for lunch or dinner with your colleagues (even if they are teleworking) or arrange other programs outside the workplace. This change of environment, and the openness to talk about other topics that are not work-related, can be very positive.
• Take time for yourself: go on vacation, take long weekends, and use this time to completely disconnect from work and do things that contribute to your happiness and well-being (spend more quality time with your family, travel, go to the beach, read more, sleep, etc.). This break will allow you to recover your energy and then return to work with more motivation.
• Find a hobby that gives you pleasure: if there is an activity that you really want to do outside of work, it will make it easier for you to disconnect from your work routine. In this case, the possibilities are endless: gardening, playing tennis, going to the gym, doing yoga, dancing, painting, acting, surfing, volunteering… something you really enjoy doing and that makes you feel good.

Above all, put your health and well-being first. If your work is causing you too much stress or anxiety, you should consider consulting a health professional. They will be able to help you identify what changes could have a positive impact on your life and where to start.